There is no alternative to Passive House!
The speakers in the packed hall in Munich were unanimously clear on one thing: that the increase in construction costs in recent years was not caused by energy efficiency; instead, other parameters were responsible.In line with the theme of the 22nd International Passive House Conference "Passive House – it's worth it!" numerous speakers drew attention to the economic feasibility and affordability of energy efficient construction and retrofitting. At the conclusion of the event, Professor Wolfgang Feist surprised the more than 1000 conference participants as he announced that the 23rd International Passive House Conference in 2019 would be held in China.
Rudolf Escheu of the Bavarian Ministry of Economics emphasised the voluntary approach to the topic of energy efficiency, "because this will convince the citizens more. We tackled this through subsidies, for example with our '10 000 houses programme'. We also found that in this way, we gave the industry an impetus for developing their products further." The Bavarian Ministry of Economics sponsored and also hosted the 22nd International Passive House Conference in Munich. The programme included seven excursions with a total of 400 participants. The hosts thus demonstrated that a lot is going on in Munich as well as in the rest of Bavaria with regard to energy efficient construction and retrofitting.
Passive House Parliament
The energy efficient annex of the historic Maximilianeum dating from 1874 was one of the places to visit in Munich. The Passive House annex houses the Bavarian Parliament. Other excursions took the participants to the Allgäu, Augsburg, and to Innsbruck. As the president of the Bavarian Chamber of Architects, Christine Degenhart was representing 24.000 architects, she considers sustainable planning and construction to be a task for society as a whole.
Passive House for companies
Frank Junker of ABG Frankfurt Holding presented impressive architectural examples of Passive House buildings belonging to the company, including a multi-storey complex with a supermarket, the modernisation of a 1950s apartment building and the restoration of a historical building using Passive House components for the deaconesses' home in Frankfurt. The chairman of the executive board made it clear that due to their entrepreneurial foresight, the ABG had voluntarily committed themselves to the implementation of all their constructions to the extremely energy-efficient Passive House Standard. The company also has to make money from it.
"Our constructions are less expensive"
Since 1999, ABG Frankfurt Holding has completed around 3000 residential units to the Passive House Standard for residents from 180 countries, ranging from subsidised apartments to owner-occupied flats. Due to the low incidental costs and high level of living comfort, there are hardly any vacant apartments. "Our constructions are less expensive than our competitors', who either cannot or will not build to the Passive House Standard", says Junker. He ended his presentation with the following words: "There's no alternative to the Passive House!"
Today the founder of the Passive House Institute Professor Wolfgang Feist teaches energy efficient construction at the University of Innsbruck. The University was also a co-organiser of the Passive House Conference in Munich. With regard to social housing, Feist shed light on the aspect of energy efficiency. In the last few years in particular it has become possible to choose much more efficient solutions without significantly higher costs. "If you don't realise a building as a Passive House today, then your tenants will have to pay more than they would if you provided them with decent apartments", says Feist.
Passive House Conference in China
The decision to hold the next International Passive House Conference in China, and thus outside of Europe for the first time, was received with respectful applause by the audience in the MOC event centre. "Each new building in China brings with it an additional demand for energy for heating and cooling, therefore it is very gratifying that serious efforts are being made in China to radically improve the energy efficiency of buildings. There is still a chance of meeting the climate protection objectives," explained Professor Feist. The Passive House Conference in China will take place on 21 and 22 September 2019.
Increasing numbers of components
Among several other Passive House projects in China, Feist also mentioned the so-called Bahnstadt in Gaobeidian. This settlement with 37 buildings and over 1.2 million square metres of living space will be the largest Passive House settlement worldwide. "Climate protection is not possible without bringing China on board," explains Witta Ebel of the Passive House Institute. It was pleasing that manufacturers in China, like those in many other countries, are increasingly focusing on the production of energy efficient components for Passive House buildings. In addition, many companies are having their components certified and thus offer a guarantee for a high quality. All available Passive House components are listed on the Passive House Institute’s component database.
"Achieve better buildings" in Heidelberg
A conference on energy efficient construction and retrofitting to the Passive House Standard will also take place in Germany next year. The "Achieve better buildings” Conference will be held in Heidelberg. In this context the Passive House Institute will offer workshops and lectures on 3 and 4 May 2019. Passive House projects in the region will also be visited within the framework of the conference in Heidelberg. Further information can be found here: heidelberg.passivhaustagung.de
Certificate for the tallest high-rise building
Many participants were awarded certificates at the Conference in Munich, including certificates for Passive House projects and for advanced training as Passive House Consultants, Designers and Tradespersons. One of the certified projects was the high-rise building "Bolueta" in Bilbao (Spain) which is currently the tallest certified Passive House building in the world, and a residential house in Saragossa. Other certificates were presented to the construction partners of projects in Gothenburg in Sweden, in Vancouver and Quebec in Canada, China, Munich and Romania.
The Passive House Institute presented the Component Award, which was funded by the European Union within the framework of the AZEB (Affordable Zero Energy Buildings) project. This time, the award was given for low-cost home ventilation solutions that also contributed to affordable housing. The first place for the Component Award 2018 was shared by the two companies Pluggit and Vaventis for their easy-to-integrate and low-cost solutions for small residential units in particular. The second place was shared by the companies Pichler and bluMartin for their centralised and decentralised façade-integrated ventilation concepts respectively.
Passive House Exhibition
The award winners of the Component Award were also represented at the Passive House Exhibition which took place parallel to the Conference at the MOC. In total, over 90 exhibitors displayed their components for energy efficient construction, and the rush of interested visitors was astounding. Many visitors from the region also used the opportunity to obtain information relating to energy efficient construction and retrofitting. In the Passive House Forum, private building owners talked about the construction of a Passive House building and the improved living comfort.
In addition, many workshops and international events also took place in Munich, including the meeting of international decision-makers, which fittingly took place in the Passive House residential project wagnisART in the Domagkpark in Munich. The Passive House Institute also offered opportunities for knowledge sharing for universities. In presentations specifically tailored to their needs, planners were given tips on striking a balance between standards and energy efficiency. In a dialogue forum a large number of representatives from municipalities received information on the ways in which energy efficient public buildings can be successfully implemented in a cost-effective manner.